The Build Begins

Woo Hoo! Its finally time to start building my house! And time I get stuck into this blog properly. So my land is level, my pipes are all in, there is electricity and water to the site, tomorrow they frame the slab and Wednesday they pour. By Saturday I should be able to walk on my foundations. So exciting.

We have chosen almost everything for the house, from the bricks and front door to every tap, surface and sink inside. Jay and I have spoken to the electrical consultant and chosen where we want all the lights and power points. And today Jay spoke to the airconditioning people for our ducted aircon that came free with the house.

I must say to this point Clarendon our builders have been wonderful. They have accommodated our wishes all the way. We have moved rooms, added rooms, changed rooms etc, from their original plan and this is never a problem. There are certain things we paid for of course but a lot of stuff we didn't. They even moved my benches 10cm higher because we are tall, after the contracts had been signed for free!

We have been living at my mother in laws house for almost a month now. And at this point it is going well. The kids are sharing one bedroom, and Jay and I have our own room and ensuite, so we are very lucky. The only things that have been a little strange are, one we are upstairs and the kids are downstairs, which has made me feel a little disconnected from them as I cannot hear them and have never slept this far away before. And two as Jay has always worked long hours at times I have become very used to my own company and I'm quite happy with my own space, something that I miss a little at times. No ones fault though.

In 10 days Jay is going on a business trip to Chicago and decided he would miss me too much (we are rather sad at being away from each other) so I am going! We are spending two nights in LA Beverly Hills and 5 nights in Chicago in the Trump Towers. I will be by myself for 3 of the days in Chicago, but I am actually really excited! It's my adventure.

With all this going on I am one spoilt woman indeed!

Well that will do for now as I will have a lot to write over the next while!

Red Honey

Why Did God Make Mums

WHY GOD MADE MUMS - Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the sticky tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us...
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my Mum just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of ?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other Mum?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's Mums like me. What kind of little girl was your Mum?
1. My Mum has always been my Mum and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did Mum need to know about Dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your Mum marry your Dad?
1. My Dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my Mum eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My Grandma says that Mum didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mum doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because Dad's such an idiot.
2. Mum. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess Mum is, but only because she has a lot more to do than Dad.

What's the difference between Mums & Dads?
1. Mums work at work and work at home and Dads just go to work at work.
2. Mums know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller & stronger, but Mums have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's.
4. Mums have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your Mum do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't have spare time.
2. To hear her talk, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your Mum perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. You know, her hair. I'd die it, maybe blue

If you could change one thing about your Mum, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my Mum smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.
3. I would like her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Renovation Easter

Much to update since I last wrote.

On the 17th of March I sat my STAT exam to get into university in July. I answered all the questions before time was up, so now I am waiting for the postman to bring me my results.
I also moved into a new role at work, or promotion as I look at it, which was most exciting. Instead of doing data entry most of my day, I now get to call people on the phone all day and talk! I am really enjoying work so much more now.

My eldest had a week of performances for end of term one at Bright Stars, with Singing, Acting and Dancing. Which of course made her mothers eyes tear up with pride, she is getting better all the time.

My husband is getting new lenses for his eye condition after easter, which I am so excited about for him. I really hope it improves his quality of life. Downside though he might suddenly realise I really am thirty one!

On the 26th of March my littlest baby turned eight years old. How time flies. Our house hold has now been drowned in Ben 10 merchandise.

Our land contract is now unconditional! Hooray! We take official ownership on the 21st of April. As previously mentioned our house was valued lower than we expected so we are going to have to sell before starting the build. I think it will actually work in our favour though with regards to budget.
Happy Easter is now Happy Renovations. We will take a week off work over easter, so we can finish the renovations on the kitchen and bathroom, with a few other bits and pieces. All going well we would like to be ready to sell in three weeks time maximum.

Of course that all means we are going to be between houses, but still paying a mortgage. Hence we will be moving in with family. Home will be at my mother in laws house which is already a house of six, and we will be adding five to make eleven! Fun and challenging for all of us. The plan is over a lot of the weekends we will visit friends so everyone can breathe.

So watch this space. Hopefully I will put up some before and afters of my renovations.

Don't forget to give a thought as to why you are eating all that chocolate and having a few days off. Happy Easter!

Red Honey

Beginning

This year will probably be one of the busiest of my life, at least to date. There are two things against me, time and my memory, which is not always the best. Hence I have decided to keep a blog. It will allow me to keep a record of everything that happens this year, and share it so you can all help me remember.

So it is the 9th of March 2010. This year I am building a house and starting part time university, while still working until 2.30pm Monday to Friday and running my house hold of three children at primary school and a husband who basically has two jobs.

At this point I am loving it. Check back with me later :)

My progress at this point with university is, I have my stat exam next week, which hopefully I do well on.

Building progress, our contract on our beautiful piece of land is nearly up. (picture below) We had to get a small extension but it should go through fine. The builder loved our soil so much they will probably give us a discount on our earthworks which is amazing. We sat down with our builder on the weekend to discuss the structural changes we would like on the plan and should get our pricing back for this on Friday. All going well it should be finished early November is the current hope.

The hurdles at the moment are we have to finish some renovation work on our current property before it goes to market. And the bank assessor didn't price our current home as high as we expected.

I have all good feelings though..... Or is it just premature excitement?

Well until next update

Red Honey